Loyal Blanca gave unswerving support to Michael, 48, as he endured his courtroom ordeal. But she said: “Michael has proven his innocence to the world and now I feel he sees no more need for me.

“I don’t deserve this after everything I have done for him. I stood by him through thick and thin. Why would any man do this to me?”

Blanca, talking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror, revealed how Michael – Coronation Street mechanic Kevin Webster – abruptly told her on Tuesday: “I can’t do this any more. It’s time to sort my life out.”

Lovers: The couple were together for seven months (Image: SUNDAY MIRROR)

The attractive teaching assistant said: “We were together seven months. I loved him and thought he felt the same way. He told me I was the best thing that had ever happened to him and said he felt we had been together for years, not just months.

“I thought he cared about me and respected me but now I feel totally used. I still can’t believe he has ended it. I feel sad because I’ve not only lost someone I loved, I’ve also lost my best friend.”

The split came after a bitter bust-up in a restaurant on Monday. Blanca said: “We rowed and he told me to f*** off in front of friends and waiting staff. I was humiliated so I left and thought we’d talk about it in the morning.

“Next day I met him at the pub thinking he would apologise, like he usually would after an argument, but he was just quiet.

Relieved Michael after he was cleared (Image: Andy Stenning)

“He finds it hard to talk about his feelings so I knew something was wrong. He ­struggled to get the words out but after a few minutes he told me it was over.

“Although it was a complete shock to me, I knew it wasn’t an impulse - he had thought about it long and hard and that made it even more hurtful.

“I was angry and reacted by shouting. I told him I had given him everything and it wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to row and instead told me calmly it was over. He looked sad but that didn’t stop him.

“I couldn’t be around him so I left. I went back to my flat and cried.”

She is certain their relationship is over for good even though they have swapped texts. Blanca also told how self-confessed alcoholic Michael revealed his jealous nature in the messages.

She said: “One minute he sent a message saying he was sorry for hurting me. But in the next one he was being nasty, blaming me for the split and accusing me of cheating. He then sent me a text that simply read, ‘Goodbye’.”

Mum-of-four Blanca continued: “I just don’t understand it. I stood by him through the worst experience of his life and now it’s over he has just thrown me aside.

“I feel like he used me when times were tough, then dropped me like I meant nothing to him. I’m devastated – I honestly don’t think I will ever be able to trust anyone again.”

“It feels as though he leaned on me when he was at his lowest ebb and now he can get on with his life he has pushed me to one side. I don’t deserve that.”

Divorced Michael, who is set to return to Corrie in time for the soap’s Christmas special, first met ­Chilean-born Blanca in January after she moved into a friend’s home near his house in Hale, Cheshire.

Blanca said: “I thought he was ­handsome and we would smile as we passed in the street. Then I put a note through his door giving him my number.

“I asked him if he wanted to meet up for a glass of wine and that same night he texted back saying, ‘Red or white?’

“He was charming and we spent that evening at his house laughing, joking and getting to know each other. It was lovely. We clicked straight away and it was the start of the relationship. Within two months we were in love.

“I just wanted to be with him all the time. We couldn’t get enough of each other. We barely spent a night apart. I also got on with his friends and met Kym Lomas and Brooke Vincent from the soap.”

Blanca and Michael get close in the Lake District (Image: John Gladwin/Sunday mirror)

Blanca already knew about the sex allegations, which first came to light in 2011 and resurfaced when Michael was arrested again in February.

She had no doubt he was innocent. But the pressure of the looming court case took its toll. Blanca said: “He was drinking heavily. He wasn’t working and didn’t have a lot else to do. Gradually it got worse.

“He would get up in the morning, watch football on Sky and then go to the pub at lunchtime and stay there for the rest of the day.

“I was seriously worried for his health but when I told him to slow down he ignored me. I was helpless. Even worse than the drinking were the mood swings and the jealousy. When he was feeling low he would get very jealous and insist that I was cheating on him. He would send texts saying, ‘I hope he’s worth it’ as though I was with another man.”

In the run-up to the Manchester court case Michael would open up to Blanca. She said: “He would break down and cry and say he couldn’t cope.

“He would pace up and down the lounge, staring at the floor and ranting about how he couldn’t understand why this was happening to him. In public he seemed so strong but when we were together he was broken.

“A few times I defended him when strangers attacked him in the pub, yelling ‘nonce’ and ‘paedo’. I couldn’t stand to hear those words spoken about a man I loved. He said he was so lucky to have me by his side.”

Michael begged Blanca not to go to court when the trial started but she remained glued to her TV for updates.

She said: “It was the longest nine days of my life.” On the day of the verdict, Blanca was one of the first people Michael contacted to share his joy.

She said: “He sounded so happy and we arranged to meet up. When he arrived we just hugged and looked into each other’s eyes.

“Michael was on a high and later introduced me to his family for the first time. I was certain that was a sign that we were together for ever.”

Five days on from their split Blanca’s greatest heartache is the sense of betrayal.

She said: “I gave him everything and he was my future. But now he has ripped all that away from me and I have nothing. I still love him but I would never treat anyone the way he has treated me.”